3D Scanning on a Budget - Part 1

Hey Steemers, I've had a little bit of time to experiment with 3D scanning in the last month, and while I've had the chance to use some high-end equipment at my local maker-space I also wanted to share my home-made solution as well! In this two part tutorial, I'll show you where to get free 3D scanning software, as well as how to build your own 3D scanner for under $30.

This segment will focus on the software portion, which you'll need before building your own scanner anyways.

To begin: 3D scanning is the process of using a specialized camera to take a series of photos of real-world objects and convert them into computerized, three-dimensional renders. It can be used for digital applications and also 3D printing.

My first experience in 3D scanning was using the Sense Scanner V1, which sells for somewhere between $300-400. Scan results were high quality, but definitely not something in my price range. Additionally, the Sense has proprietary software that uses licenses, which I could not use on my computer for fear of locking the other members of the maker-space out of it.

First I wanted to find software I could use on my own computer, free of licensing. A program called Skanect did the trick for me, and you can get the free version here: http://skanect.occipital.com/

The free version of Skanect has all of the functionality of the full version, but limits your saved models to 5000 faces per scan -
take a look at the picture of my 3D printed scans above to see if that will be good enough for you (That's a bust of me on the left!)

Here's what most scans will look like before exporting, but in order to save a mesh with this much detail you have to buy a license from Skanect for around $120 (Clever business model):

Another free program I have found, but not had a chance to try yet is called ReconstructMe, which might allow you to get more detail than Skanect's free version - You can get it here: http://reconstructme.net/

That concludes part 1 of this tutorial! If you find any other 3D scanning software, be sure to post a link to it in the comments. Next time, I'll show you how to build your own 3D scanner. Stay tuned!